How to Do One-Meal-a-Day (The Basics)

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It does't mess up your calorie deficit and i doubt it messes up other benefits of fasting. A big reason this diet works is that you get a calorie deficit without a ton of suffering, so if you don't get hungry and then eat reasonable in the evening so that you have a deficit, your golden and it will work for you and be a sustainable thing you can keep doing! The only thing I would worry about is if the coffee is upsetting your stomach. I hope I didn't misspeak here.

I have coffee with heavy cream every morning (albeit with no sugar), and it does not "wake up" my appetite. But it gives me something to look forward to in the morning. Everyone's different, of course, but I suffer no upset stomach from the coffee.

Also - just to be clear. So MFP says I need to eat 2100 calories a day.

So with this plan I wake up - eat nothing till 6:00pm.

Am I correct that at that point I need to eat my 2100 calories all at once? What if I can't - we started to eat healthy and most meals are around 400-600 calories.

My wife will never go for this - she loves eating all day - she is going to be like WTF - your gorging yourself at dinner - ha ha

Hi, Danto...

Didn't know about the 8-hour diet, but it sounds like an intermittent fasting window diet like the one Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson talked about doing.

Your MFP recommended calories are just that -- recommended. You can totally do that if you find it sound. Many around here go more or less, depending on their goals. If you want to and you find you can't get that much, then just do like anyone on an IF window--track your cals over a certain window of time and then close it.

IF, in any form, is extremely flexible.

As far as the wife, hey, we each must do our own thing and walk our own paths. I know very well the guff that OMADers take. Just try not to make it a topic of argument.

Also - just to be clear. So MFP says I need to eat 2100 calories a day.

So with this plan I wake up - eat nothing till 6:00pm.

Am I correct that at that point I need to eat my 2100 calories all at once? What if I can't - we started to eat healthy and most meals are around 400-600 calories.

My wife will never go for this - she loves eating all day - she is going to be like WTF - your gorging yourself at dinner - ha ha

Hey dude! You found us! As arguablysamson said, some eat more or less. Some only eat one platefull and are done. I eat about a plate and a half full but allow myself to continue to eat for the next couple of hours and I am still am at a deficit and lose but just not as fast as some. I did count cals for awhile to see what was happening and if you eat like I do, I think you should count also. If you go for just the one plate route, I think you probably don't have to count and should have a deficit. You might want to count anyways just to see what your doing. It is informative to learn how much cals stuff has in it.

I think if you did this and ate at maint cals, you will be surprised how much better you feel due to getting your blood sugar stabilized and I bet you will still lose some weight even though you should be maintaining at those cals.

So when you first started and did just one plate did you count calories? Or did you wait until your stomach started to shrink and you wanted healthier food? Was it a heaping plate or just kind of regular?

Read the whole 8 HOUR DIET book last night. It's just another form of intermittent fasting.

You basically don't eat for 16 hours. Then you have a 8 hour eating window.

WILL THIS BE AS SUCCESSFUL?

Mine is going to be from 1pm to 9pm. Starting today to see how it feels and how my body handles it.

It suggests I wake up in the morning and do 8 minutes of exercise to jump start my metabolism and get my body burning fat (not from food - from fat stores in body). That could be jumping jacks in the house, walking around the block, whatever - doesn't need to be intense.

I then need to drink two glasses of water before I walk out the door. If I want I can make meals or shakes or whatever for later. Right now I am getting healthy prepackaged stuff (salads, wraps, fruit cups, etc) I can grab and go.

I then have to wait till 1pm to start eating anything. At that point I have a healthy lunch and some more water. Probably around 800 calories.

Then I can have a afternoon snack if I get hungry.

Then when I get home around 6:30pm I start cooking dinner - try for around 1000 calories for dinner.

I can have a night time snack around 8:30pm and am done eating by 9pm.

Going to try really hard to start getting to be between 10 and 11 rather than midnight like I do now. At least go up and read till I fall asleep rather than starting at tv.

After a week or so I hope to maybe join a gym or kickboxing place and workout three times a week (cardio and strength). Also trying to quit smoking on March 1st which has always held me back exercise wise.

Will it work? Depends on you. I know that it wouldn't have with me since I could have slammed down all sorts of calories well within 8 hours--and would have. And that becomes the problem with larger window timeframes--people instinctively find a way to worm around them. I can finish a meal in less than 12 minutes. Many others can, too.

The 4-hour OMAD window I employed in my plan merely allots time for a person to move their meal around a few hours and then 1 hour to eat. But some have done a casual 4-hour eating window and have had great success. My plan was designed, first, for me, but eventually became useful for others because with strict rules in place (like the one-plate rule), their instincts couldn't get around the guidelines not to eat. Some people need those extra guidelines.

So track your calories, but you're better starting with this than with nothing.

So when you first started and did just one plate did you count calories? Or did you wait until your stomach started to shrink and you wanted healthier food? Was it a heaping plate or just kind of regular?

Hi,

I had the one-plate rule when I started. I only counted calories when I went out to eat since the stats were already available. The ideal one-plate is standard-sized (10 inches wide), stacked no higher than 3 inches, and can be wobbled from side to side without anything falling onto the floor.

As my stomach shrank, it became progressively easier to eat on that plate, and eventually, I didn't worry about it except as only a habit. I began to eat healthier and naturally had to discard the rule because nutritious foods are far less calorie-dense than junkier foods and needed 3 to 4 plates to hold all of my food. And beyond that was maintenance, which also required more food than one plate would hold. Not an issue, though, since you graduate past that rule earlier than that. However, for people starting out and trying to re-establish portion control, it is a super good rule!

Read the whole 8 HOUR DIET book last night. It's just another form of intermittent fasting.

You basically don't eat for 16 hours. Then you have a 8 hour eating window.

WILL THIS BE AS SUCCESSFUL?

Mine is going to be from 1pm to 9pm. Starting today to see how it feels and how my body handles it.

It suggests I wake up in the morning and do 8 minutes of exercise to jump start my metabolism and get my body burning fat (not from food - from fat stores in body). That could be jumping jacks in the house, walking around the block, whatever - doesn't need to be intense.

I then need to drink two glasses of water before I walk out the door. If I want I can make meals or shakes or whatever for later. Right now I am getting healthy prepackaged stuff (salads, wraps, fruit cups, etc) I can grab and go.

I then have to wait till 1pm to start eating anything. At that point I have a healthy lunch and some more water. Probably around 800 calories.

Then I can have a afternoon snack if I get hungry.

Then when I get home around 6:30pm I start cooking dinner - try for around 1000 calories for dinner.

I can have a night time snack around 8:30pm and am done eating by 9pm.

Going to try really hard to start getting to be between 10 and 11 rather than midnight like I do now. At least go up and read till I fall asleep rather than starting at tv.

After a week or so I hope to maybe join a gym or kickboxing place and workout three times a week (cardio and strength). Also trying to quit smoking on March 1st which has always held me back exercise wise.

Please make a personal thread in the omad forum so we can follow you and discuss your progress.

A lot of people are doing it (including Herschel Walker and General Stanley McChrystal) and no such effects have been observed.

And keep in mind, you don't have to do exactly what I've done. You can modify it a little. But aside from the rather rough adjustment, you will be healthier and more in control. Those who have the hardest time with it are those who are most out of shape. A remotely out of shape person or someone in just not great shape would have an easier time with it.

Just a quick question for all women out there doing OMAD- how many calories do you eat in your 1 meal?

So 1200-1500 cals ok?

Please advise.

Bobo

I'm not a women but the answer should still be the same. You eat at a deficit and the size of the deficit will determine how fast you lose weight. Too little cals and it might make it hard for you to sustain it. Too many cals and the weight loss will be slow. What is your maint cals? Divide your weekly deficit (weekly maint cals - weekly actual cals eaten) by 3500 and that is how many lbs a week you should lose minimally.

Just a quick question for all women out there doing OMAD- how many calories do you eat in your 1 meal?

So 1200-1500 cals ok?

Please advise.

Bobo

It all depends on what is a deficit for your body. My stats are set up to be a deficit of 200-300 a day which has me eating around 1200-1300. ( that is for my 5'2" 145 lbs frame with light activity)Truthfully I eat what I want so if I am super hungry that day (or if I am eating a higher Cal meal). Then I go above, if I'm not as hungry then I don't eat eat as much.

This is not only a way of eating, but also a way to gain control of your body ques again. I am focusing on listening to my body to tell me when I am hungry, not just bored or upset or excited or any other emotion that used to make me want to eat (I tend to be an emotional eater so this WOE has helped me to control the emotional part of eating and eat because I need fuel).

Hope this helped a little, I know in the beginning I just wanted the weight to come off and I was strict with the number of cals I consumed, but as I get closer to my goal weight and start thinking more about maintenance my view has changed. Now I am starting to think of keeping the weight off. I know I don't have to be as strict with the cals, but I also know that if i am not paying attention, it can become a slippery slope.

How do we get enough calories in for our OMAD when we are not big eaters? My calories yesterday and today (days 1 and 2) are fairly low. Thanks . Elizabeth Maryam

You can track it, or use the one-plate rule. I have a video coming on opening a feeding window tailored for you. It is difficult for many people to "tank up" on a day's calories, even at a reduced level sometimes.

How do we get enough calories in for our OMAD when we are not big eaters? My calories yesterday and today (days 1 and 2) are fairly low. Thanks . Elizabeth Maryam

You can track it, or use the one-plate rule. I have a video coming on opening a feeding window tailored for you. It is difficult for many people to "tank up" on a day's calories, even at a reduced level sometimes.

If I consider a window of time, would it be reasonable to look at a 3/4 hour window perhaps? Or should I try to get more calorie dense food? I do not want to lose muscle mass, so I would like to try to eat a reasonable amount of protein, in particular. I was thinking of having a protein drink with my meal; which would add 20g of protein; but even calorie wise, it only adds 90 cals. Yesterday's meal was 460 calories and today's was 447 calories and although I am satisfied and "surprisingly" my blood sugars are fine and I am not crashing, and I also have energy to exercise and do activities i need to do, I don't want to continue with such low calories. Would you agree with this? My calorie needs are not high, but I don't want to have things so low that it causes other problems. I would appreciate your input. Thanks . Elizabeth Maryam